Lucía Peña
Dogecoin’s evolution from an online joke to a widely recognized digital asset has taken another major step. Grayscale has officially launched the Grayscale Dogecoin Trust ETF (GDOG), which began trading on NYSE Arca on Monday.
The product originally debuted as a private placement in January, but was recently converted into a publicly traded exchange-traded fund.
According to Krista Lynch, Senior Vice President of ETF Capital Markets at Grayscale, Dogecoin’s transformation reflects a broader shift in the digital-asset market. Lynch noted that Dogecoin’s transition from internet meme to practical utility aligns with Grayscale’s mission to expand investor access to crypto assets.
Dogecoin’s Market Position and Musk’s Influence
Dogecoin currently ranks as the 10th-largest cryptocurrency, boasting a market capitalization of $21.6 billion.
The token began as a playful meme centered around the Shiba Inu dog, but gained mainstream traction after Elon Musk frequently referenced it on social media. His posts contributed significantly to the coin’s rapid rise in popularity.
In 2022, Musk faced a class-action lawsuit accusing him of running a pyramid scheme through his Dogecoin-related tweets. The case was dismissed in 2024. Musk later referenced the coin again when he and Vivek Ramaswamy headed the Department of Government Efficiency—humorously abbreviated as DOGE.
Dogecoin briefly traded above $0.45 after last year’s U.S. election but has since retreated to below $0.15.
The Second Dogecoin ETF to Hit U.S. Markets
Grayscale’s new Dogecoin ETF becomes the second DOGE-focused ETF in the United States. The first, the REX-Osprey DOGE ETF, launched in September under the Investment Company Act of 1940, allowing it to operate as an actively managed fund.
The Dogecoin product arrives during a period of increasing ETF approvals across the crypto sector. Over the past year, U.S. markets have seen new ETFs tied to Litecoin, HBAR, XRP, and Solana (SOL).
These approvals were granted while the federal government was shut down. During that time, firms relied on pre-existing SEC guidance that allowed them to move forward without direct agency approval—provided their ETFs met the SEC’s updated listing standards established in September.
